JA RULE - JA RULE CAUGHT UP IN BIZARRE LAWSUIT

Rapper JA RULE has been hit with a lawsuit by a man who claims one of the hip-hop star's videos left him "threatened, shot at and stabbed" after its release.

Ja Rule's I CRY, from his 2000 album RULE 3:36 depicts the New York native as a man coping with the murder of his friend - a murder he and his crew later avenge on a street corner.

But now, Baltimore, Maryland, resident TONY VEANIE claims the video affected him, and has filed a lawsuit against Ja Rule's record label claiming trouble started when portions of the promo were shot in his neighbourhood.

In the handwritten suit, Veanie says, "The nature of this video was about violence and killing. I was threatened, shot at and stabbed." Now Veanie wants $25,000 (GBP138,800) in damages.

In the lawsuit, Veanie refers to Ja Rule's record label as MURDER INC, now known simply as THE INC, with Murder being dropped last year (03) to shed the label's violent image.

However, Veanie says the name change means little - he's convinced that the violent images in the video have already cost him dearly.

A representative at The Inc claims to have not yet heard about the lawsuit but believes the man who filed it must be "sick in the head".